Snareville

by David Youngquist

  “Not much in the way of politics. President went Zed, from what I hear through the official channels. So did most of Congress. If they survived, they scattered. Not much left."

  “What about chain of command for us?” Gibson asked.

  “Spotty at best. Our area is one of the best organized, but there’s not much out there to organize anyway.”

  “Boys,” Tess rebuked, standing on the top step of the porch with her hands on hips. Her belly pushed out against her sweater. “We agreed no shop talk, remember?”

  Tom grinned. “Yes, dear. Sorry.”

  “Get three men together, and they’re as bad as a bunch of old women at a bridge party,” Tess muttered, chuckling. She turned with Star and the other women to go into the house.

  “Two at once, eh, Major?” Gibson asked with a wink.

  “Yeah, remind me not to do that again. One was bad enough, then Tess. What was I thinking? How’s Cori?”

  “Getting fat. She was already sassy.”

  “That leaves you, bro,” Tom said. “Pepper keepin' you in line?”

  I smiled. “Yeah. This one’s easier than Mikey was.”

  We stepped up on the porch.

  “And what about Cindy?”

  I looked at my brother. I knew what he meant. Same thing everyone meant. Where did we stand, the three of us? Not just me and Cindy, but the whole dynamic. All of us.

  “None of your business, bro.”

  We all laughed and went into the house. The smell of roasting bird hit us as we walked inside, along with the aromas of pie, potatoes, and any number of other treats I couldn’t place. A fire crackled in the hearth, giving the room a live heat. Babies were unbundled and passed around. Trevor clung to Tess’s leg as his mother chatted. Only the boom of a howitzer reminded us that life wasn't quite normal yet.

  Talk turned to the harvest, trade routes, how the little towns were holding up. Some places were better off than others. They had the cold weather to adjust and prepare before spring brought the Zeds out. We seemed to be doing the best we could. Tom and his troops had made trips to several military posts. Some had organized with troops, but most were still empty. The empties had been scavenged for supplies. Those with personnel were brought into the command system. They were growing. Hopefully by spring, the newbs would be able to support themselves and what was left of the communities around them.

  When a town or military base wanted to join the Alliance, they had to agree to abide by the laws we'd laid down. Most of it included the old laws from before the plague hit, but some of it was specific to what was going on now. Capital punishment was pretty quick. Some people grumbled that we'd backslid justice, but frankly, it wasn’t much of a problem, and we didn’t have the time or the space to warehouse prisoners.

  “It’s worse where they don’t get any snow, you know?” Gibson asked. “I been in touch with some of the survivors out in Cali. Dry weather, no frost in the south… they got dried-up Zeds been runnin' around for nearly two years now.”

  Tom grunted over the top of his beer. Some creative guys had figured out how to brew their own. It quickly became part of the trade system.

  “I’m hopin’ O’Shea’s juice will take care of that. Figure in all those warm, dry states, you got the same problem.”

  “We’ve seen O’Shea’s anti-Zed spray work. We just need a lot of it, plus a good delivery system. I don’t exactly wanna walk into a swarm with a backpack sprayer and hose them down.”

  Grunts and nods followed as both took another swig of beer. I saw Star—Tammi, I had to remind myself—head into the kitchen. In her left hand, a cane swung forward as she took a step. I stood and excused myself.

  She stood at the oven by the time I caught up to her. The bird was about finished. I took some oven mitts that she'd been using and hoisted the bird onto the top of the stove. She glared at me for a moment. Then her eyes softened.

  “Thanks,” she said, glancing away.

  “No problem. It’s a big bird.”

  “Yeah, Tom got it out by the river. It should feed us all.”

  I stood for a minute, not knowing what to say. I didn’t want to be here, but I wanted to talk to her for a moment. Finally, I put some words together.

  “Look, Star…”

  “That’s not my name,” she said.

  I winced, too late. “Sorry.”

  “I’ve gone back to my real name. I stripped as Star. After… after the Zeds ran crazy, I just went by it. Everything else was gone. So was the old me. That’s when I became Star for real.”

  “But not anymore,” I said.

  “No. I’m Tammi again. The star on my face… and other places, well… I’ll have to explain to my kids someday. If we all make it that far.” She rubbed her belly. She was further along than Tess, but she was taller, so she didn’t show as much. “You come out here for a reason?”

  “Yeah. Okay. Tammi, I… I just wanted to apologize for trying to kill you. A couple times. I… I wasn’t really in my right head.”

  She glared at me for a moment. Her strawberry-blonde hair had grown back. Her green eyes glittered. On top of the black tattoo ink, a small tear slid down her face.

  “If I remember correctly, I tried to kill you more than once myself. Don’t beat yourself up over it, Danny. None of us have been in our right minds for a couple years.” She smiled a little. She was a pretty girl. “Help me with this bird.”

  I slid it back into the oven as the other girls came into the kitchen, the babies situated. I was duly chased out. On the way back, I grabbed a couple beers from the cooler. I needed one. I didn’t know about anyone else, but it wouldn’t go to waste. Tom held up his hand as I walked in, so he got the extra.

  “Is it okay for the commander to be drinking?” Gibson asked with a chuckle.

  “I’m not in command today. Olmos, my XO, has the lead. I’m having dinner with my family and drinking beer.”

  We grinned. Conversation went on. We talked weather, gardens, training, and trade. Just everyday events that had taken the place of sports and politics. We figured there were probably less than two million people left alive in the United States, and probably far less in Canada.

  “I’m sure we’ve got something in inventory that would work for the delivery system, but finding it is going to be the trick,” Tom said.

  “And then the manpower to do something with it,” I added.

  We all went silent as we tipped back our bottles. The girls stepped into the room and announced dinner was ready. We sat at the table as the food was brought out. There was enough for the feast and then some. Everyone was going to take leftovers home. Conversation was light. We talked simple things. The babies all got a taste of a real Christmas dinner. It was a fine meal.

  While the women chatted in the kitchen and cleaned up, the men excused ourselves for a walk. We had no football games to watch, and my belly was full to bursting. The three of us strolled along the sidewalk with no real destination in mind. A platoon of soldiers jogged toward us from the other direction. Apparently, they'd been out in Rock Island on a run. The sergeant snapped us a salute as he called cadence to his sweaty troops. We all returned the salute, and the soldiers continued along the street.

  “You wish you was out there humpin’ troops, Major?” Gibson asked.

  “Hell, no, Lieutenant. There’s not much I miss about bein’ a D.I.”

  We chuckled.

  “This bushwhacker turned out to be a pretty good soldier, for a civilian,” Gibson said as he jerked his thumb my direction. “Must run in the blood.”

  Tom grinned. “He has a damn good teacher in Kenny One Shot. Man knows his stuff.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment from both of you,” I said.

  We got to the lock and dam. Water rolled through the unused lock. The massive steel gate was left open at both ends just enough to cover the floor with water. Most of the river turned the turbines to make power. Electricity flowed to the cities again. I kicked a clod of snow in
to the tumbling water below.

  “We’re starting over, aren’t we?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?” Tom asked. He kicked his own pile of snow into the drink.

  “Those of us left. We’re starting from scratch.”

  “Not really from scratch. We’re somewhere between the Stone Age and the Nuclear Age. Where we take it from here… that depends on a lot of things.”

  “We’ll go back to the tribal system, from what I’ve seen,” Gibson said. “Maybe not to the full extent, but I can see us bein’ different tribes here in the Midwest than the ones in the South or East or wherever. I don’t think there’s gonna be much goin’ on internationally for a long time.”

  “You think we’ll make it?” I asked.

  “I think so,” Tom said. “We’ve got a common enemy. I think we’re going to put aside all the crap that kept us apart before and work on eliminating as many Zeds as we can. Seems like we’re working on the population again. At least you are.”

  The three of us chuckled.

  “I think we can easily say we’re doing our part,” Gibson said. “I’ve heard it’s like this in some other places too. All but two of my lady Marines are with child. When they get bigger, I’m going to pull them off line duty.”

  “What about Cindy?” Tom asked.

  “Always that," I muttered. "Everyone wants to know. You’ll know when everyone else does, bro.”

  Tom grinned. “We better get back to our ladies. I’m sure they could use some help.”

  We turned and headed back to the house. The girls had an old Jimmy Stewart film moving in the DVD player—the one where he’d wished he was dead. It was a bit appropriate for the events of the last couple years. Someday, maybe they’d do a remake with Zeds.

  We all found a place to get comfortable. Babies found a place on the floor to play. At the end, when Clarence got his wings, there were tears and sniffles all around, even from the military segment of the group. I nudged Pepper in the ribs. She turned and smiled at me. She gave a little nod, and I stood.

  For a moment, I looked out the windows. The sun was sliding behind the hills of Davenport. Lights were starting to pop on. Everything looked so normal out there.

  “Excuse me, folks. I'd like to say something.”

  Everyone quieted. The babies had fallen asleep on their blankets.

  “Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary between Pepper and me. It’s been a year of blessings and a year of sadness. Nothing's sure anymore. Nothing is a guarantee. Nothing but my love for my wife and my family. And there’s one more person I want to share that love and happiness with for whatever time God allows me.”

  I walked over to where Cindy sat on the couch, cuddling Rachel. I saw tears in her eyes already. I pulled a small box from my pocket. On one knee, I opened the box. Three rings glittered inside: Two women’s and one man’s. I felt Pepper’s hand on my shoulder.

  “Cindy, would you marry us? Join our family?”

  Cindy handed Rachel to Ella. With a laugh, she flung her arms around my neck and buried her face there.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Oh, my God… yes.”

  Everyone had something to say, of course. Mostly how it was about time. We uncorked a bottle of wine Tom had stashed in his cupboard, and we celebrated happy news. Even Ella and Shar got a little taste of wine each. We toasted the future and remembered the past. It turned out to be a better day than I expected.